Levi mcmillan



. L. IVICIVIILLAN.

SHOE HEEL.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.25| I920.

Patented Mar. s, 1921.

W IIIII Zeni /VWZZMIL LEVI MGMILLAN, OF WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA. "il

SHOE-HEEL. i'

'Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Blah f8, ,1921

y Application filed August 25, 1920. Serial No. 405,888.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that l, Liivi MGMILLAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Wilmington, N ew Hanover county, and State of North Carolina, have invented new and useful Improvements in Shoe-Heels, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in slice heels, and particularly to rubber cushion heels.

An object is to provide, with a rubber or other cushion body, means to receive the fasteniiigs for the heel body which will pei'- forin the additional functions of reinforcing .the rubber heel against wear and will give additional friction to hold against slipping.

A further object is to so construct and arrange the parts that the resiliency of the cushion body is not materially lessened, while at the same time vnon-metallic reinforcement is presented for the nails or fastenings, and at thosel points on the surface of the heel which receive the greatest wear in use.

A still further object resides in construct ing the heel in a manner to reduce the cost of manufacture to a minimum, while at the same time increasing the durability and wearing qualities thereof.

With these and other objects in view, which will be apparent from the drawings, specification and claims, this invention includes certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts which will now be set forth. y

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in bottom ,plan of a heel constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of Fic. l.

Fig. 3 is a View in perspective of one of the reinforcing plugs.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a slightly modified form 'of plugz Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional View through the heel portion of a shoe showing my improved heel applied thereto..

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 illustrating the embodiment of the invention in a whole rubber heel.

The heel body l is of rubber or other cushion material, and this body may be of the half heel or whole heel type. In the main embodiment I have shown a half heel, and

in this adaptation have'illustrated a heel of large size such as would be usedlupon a Iinans walking shoe, however it ,will be appreciated that this is only one foimiofthe heel and that variations can be made to suit the requirements of use. f I As illustrated the cushion heel body is adapted to be secured upon the shoe heel by ther use of vsiii nails or faste'nings, although y a greater or less number might `'be vused,'and with this in mind the cushion body has the recesses 2 formed in the outer side thereof to exteiul substantially three-fourths of the way through the body. These recesses are located in a line conforming substantially to the edge contour of the body, andare preferablyniade circular, althougl'i they might be of oher configuration.` It is desirablethat the recesses have straight sid'e walls'-` as the cushion body isvthus more readily cast or formed in the manufacture.

y Reinforcing plugs 8, of leather, fiber, or any' suitable material other than live rubber are shaped to lit snugly within the recesses 2 with their outer faces iush with the tread face of the cushion body. Each reinforcing plug has a central recess 4 extending from the outer side through substantially threefourths of'its thickness, the remaining portion of the thickness ofthe plug being unperforated. i

In the manufacture of the heels as above described, the cushion bodies can 'be molded out withtherecesses 2 therein and then the reinforcing plugs 3 can beinserted inthese recesses before thelieels are sold or these can be left to be placed by the Shoemaker who applies the heel. In some cases the plugs may be embedded in the cushion body to be permanently held therein, although it is desirable that these be removably fitted within the recesses.

The heel cushion body l, with the reinforcing plugs 3 fitted in the several recesses 2, is fitted in the usual manner upon the leather heel lifts 5 of a shoe, substantially as shown in Fig. The unpenetrated thickness of each reinforcing plug 3, and the material of the cushion heel beneath each recess 2 can bc perforated with an awl, or the fastening nails 6 rcan be driven through this material and into the leather heel 5 to clench within the shoe. lVhen the fastening nails are driven and set within the iecesses 4 of the reinforcing plugs 3, these Wliieh the plugs will be held against Withdrei'ml portions in heads ofi the nelle, and the eng the reinforcing pgs with t the cushion heel lbody the w imparted to those pings fire reeeive similar reir Tor ig for embodied in @onljiinetion cment oL a .in

the loieg-o ig des' i red to the cushion heel as ,o and have described the pltag of leather, however it is to by the fnt o t heel.

ln l 1g. 4: l have plug 7 es mede o awsl L the top 8 being made con yond the tread lace of th het leatl'ier-boai'd vulcanized nbei, and In the illustration n other recognized equivalente Ylor ieethe; may' the embodiment of my Y rubber heel, and 1n this @any ion body lb 1s made oit the Us in l .u r 7'* 'w "l luf@ ,Jeweniployen m nmnnig tiieplngt. while, in the 'oregoing i have nie'w iorm it beonly certain possible modliiee lng provided with plug eiring oggeeribed specifi@ enibodime The fastening nails may be di'i'iei lited that in practice l. do through the ma erial 0 the reinicie to such speoifle deter" ilulfs 13 forminor the bottoms of: the re t ma resort to mi therein, and thiongh the material o; Afilling within cushion body, to olench against the defined in the :ipjoen side of the shoe sole lll. Hoi* Ye eulty may be encountered iiier on Iii-:3l ha, tening nails through the thiol l :ind unpe Cushion body it may l within the r 7o provide openings l5 s cured to have 'inst body7 Centered with resp "l By Constructing my impro manner set forth leai'th ,l cushion combined with rubber to 'for the trend mj sur' plurali 75 surface, the reinforcing plugs being ther p "med tioned and presented receive the ings for the heel body, to L inforee this` cushion body at the po to i th:

est Wear Comes, and to hold figeinst sl i L)ingu oe. It is Well known that inserts of l bei', leather., f :in :zirti und like materiels embodied i :i i fini' r prevent slipping on Wet sin ion heel will be firmly linen fino. f place by reason of the tact that the tening nails are frictonally held in the m riel of? the reinforcing plugs and also in the ineterial of the Cushion body, As the recesses extend throiwh only a part of the 'thickness of the cushion body l each plug 3 bears against a layer of the cushion material and the resiliency of the main cushion body is i, in the recesses i in testimony' Wiereo'.

LEVI MCMHJLAN. 

